Carlos Ghosn: Automotive Turnaround Champion Speaks to HBS Community
Trisha Coad (NH) & Branden Neish (NI), Contributing Writers
Issue date: 12/4/06 Section: News
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The 46-year old Brazilian native of Lebanese descent has been lauded in the media for delivering results at Nissan and then as CEO of Renault. HBS first year students are already familiar with his actions in the automotive industry from seeing Ghosn as the protagonist of a LEAD case. This fame brought a standing-room only crowd of about 200 students for an engaging question and answer session with Carlos Ghosn.
Invited to campus by the Turnaround Club, Ghosn discussed his philosophy on guiding a firm through a stormy era. According to Ghosn, there is "no problem without a solution" in the corporate world, and the keys to reinventing a company include staffing the right people on the turnaround team, orienting the team towards results and motivating people to succeed.
Not only do the right people need to be in place, but Ghosn also defined the right leader for a turnaround as being specifically an outsider. In his turnaround of Nissan, Ghosn was a company outsider and a foreigner; characteristics he felt had both benefits and disadvantages, as he initiated the turnaround effort.
To illustrate his point, Ghosn pointed to Ford Motor Company's recent appointment of former Boeing phenom Alan Mulally, as CEO. As Ghosn puts it, if a longtime Ford employee were to be promoted to the top job, he would be challenged and even dismissed if he asked the "right" questions-the questions that challenge the underlying basis on which the automaker does business-and the hypothetical leader's peers would simply retort with comments such as, "you were there when we made that decision" or "you know why vehicles take years to design." Instead, an outsider's perspective allows a leader to ask the basic questions that would address the heart of a struggling company's problems.
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mireille mouawad`
posted 12/27/07 @ 7:59 AM EST
goodmorning:
my name is mireille mouawad working & leaving in uae al ain i have nissan ultima 2006 american model 2.5 special edition bought from a local guy from uae i've send the car for maintenance were they've informed me that the car needs new rears & breaks so i told ok no problem fix them the maintenace department told me atht the parts should be brought from america because it is american car i've said ok no problem so i went to parts department to pay a down payment for the parts to be purchased from america & delivered after 2 months till now i didn't get anything imagine i'm waiting since 2 months & half i'm trying to connect with someone who can help me to get the parts as i've been promoside after 2months there is one egyptian guy who is trying to be friend instead of solving my problem so here im sending this e-mail hopping that my problem will be solved the document n is: wip:13420 date is: 07/10/2007 but the report has been made on:04/09/2007 as i told you is a long
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